Claire's Stores, Inc. Opens Stores in Spain Signs Initial Leases in Holland PEMBROKE PINES, Fla., July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Claire's Stores, Inc. (NYSE: CLE) today announced that it has opened its first stores in Spain and that it has entered into its first leases in Holland. This is part of a broader initiative to expand the Claire's brand to additional countries in Europe. The Company reported earlier this year that during Fiscal 2006 it intended to open stores in two to three new European countries. The Company currently operates stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland, France, Switzerland, Austria and Germany, in addition to its large North American presence. Claire's first entered the United Kingdom in 1996 and continental Europe in 1998 when it completed an acquisition of 53 stores throughout Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Today's store openings in Spain mark the first time the Company has commenced operations in a country through organic growth. Two stores were opened yesterday, each in Madrid. They are located at Calle Narvaez 22 and Calle Bravo Murillo 101. Two additional stores are scheduled to open later this month as follows: July 22 Centro Commercial Principe Pio, Madrid July 29 Calle Creu Coberta, 122, Barcelona The average square footage of the new stores is comparable to that in our other European locations. Each of the stores in Spain will be supplied from the Company's Austrian warehouse and, like our other stores in Europe, will carry approximately 7,500 SKU's. Lease negotiations are currently underway for additional stores to be opened in Spain in the latter half of this fiscal year or Fiscal 2007. Three leases have also been signed for stores in Holland, with opening dates planned for later this year. The three stores are located in the cities of Amsterdam, Leiden and Nijmegen. Bonnie Schaefer, Co-Chairman and Co-CEO stated that, "We are tremendously excited about our entrance into Spain. It is a dynamic country with a demographic that we believe will be extremely receptive to our stores. We have had a presence abroad for almost a decade and in that time we have found that the Claire's brand translates beautifully across borders. Tweens and teens around the world are interested in costume jewelry and accessories that let them express their individual personalities, and our enormous selection at affordable prices makes that possible. Future store opening plans for Spain and Holland are still in development, and we will provide additional details over the coming months." Company Overview Claire's Stores, Inc., is a leading international specialty retailer offering value-priced costume jewelry and accessories to fashion-aware tweens, teens and young adults through its two store concepts: Claire's and Icing by Claire's. While the latter operates only in North America, Claire's operates internationally. As of July 2, 2005, Claire's Stores, Inc. operated approximately 2,845 stores in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Claire's Stores, Inc. operates through its subsidiary, Claire's Nippon, Co., Ltd., 165 stores in Japan as a 50:50 joint venture with AEON, Co., Ltd. (fka JUSCO, Co. Ltd.), a $40 billion specialty retailer headquartered in Japan. The Company also licenses 70 stores in the Middle East and Turkey under a licensing and merchandising agreement with Al Shaya Co., Ltd. and six stores in South Africa under similar agreements with The House of Busby Limited. Additional Information: Note: Other Claire's Stores, Inc. press releases, a corporate profile and most recent 10-K and 10-Q reports are available via Claire's corporate website: http://www.clairestores.com/. For information about our products and stores, please go to http://www.claires.com/. DATASOURCE: Claire's Stores, Inc. CONTACT: Marisa F. Jacobs, Esq., Vice President of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations of Claire's Stores, Inc., +1-212-594- 3127, +1-212-244-4237 fax, Web site: http://www.clairestores.com/ http://www.claires.com/ Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/174913.html

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